Italy Archives - Page 54 of 65 - Tyrepress

Tag Archive for: Italy

New Speed Record for ContiSportContact Vmax

Less than a month after Continental was admitted to the Guinness Book of Records for car performance modifier Jan Fatthauer’s 388 km/h dash, which saw the Continental ContiSportContact Vmax officially recognised as the world’s fastest production tyre, a new record using Conti’s performance tyre has been set.

On July 17 the German tuning company motoren technik mayer (mtm) set a new speed record of 393 km/h at the Papenburg high-speed test track in northwest Germany. The double-engined Bimoto Audi TT, capable of giving out a colossal 735 kW (1000HP), was fitted with ContiSportContact Vmax tyres. Prior to conducting the test mtm owner Roland Mayer conducted evaluations on a number of tyres in order to select the right high-speed rubber to use. Summarising the test results, he noted “at the high speed attained by the Bimoto, the ContiSportContact Vmax displays distinctively good driving stability.”

25th July 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Pirelli to Build ‘Next Mirs’ Plant in Italy

Pirelli Tyre is planning to build a state-of-the-art industrial centre in the Settimo Torinese area of Italy, having signed an agreement with the Piedmont Regional, Turin Provincial, and Settimo Torinese Authorities. The new plant, will produce car and truck tyres, using “ecologically sustainable Next Mirs technology,” according to the company, making it the most modern Pirelli production facility worldwide. As part of the agreement with local authorities Pirelli Tyre and Turin Politecnico have agreed to cooperate on future research and technological projects.

Pirelli currently has two production facilities in the Settimo Torinese area. The industrial regeneration plan will entail transferring the production operations currently carried out in the car-tyre plant to the truck-tyre plant. Amalgamating the two facilities in this way will pave the way for inaugurating a modern centre.

18th July 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

New Online Tyre Retail Portal Launched

A new online tyre retail website has rolled onto the information superhighway. Tyres-betterdeals.co.uk is one of the most recent creations of the betterdeals.co.uk network. According to the company, tyres-betterdeals.com forms an example of the network’s innovative consumer orientation. It is interesting to point out that all the tyre selections Tyres & Accessories made while browsing the site pointed straight to mytyres.co.uk, Delticom AG’s tyre retail front-end.

Active since the end of 2003, betterdeals.co.uk publicizes news on the Internet, serving markets that are as different as Italy, Spain, and France on the one hand and Germany, Holland, and the UK on the other. Resulting in 35 launches of new Internet portals in 2007 alone, betterdeals.co.uk is created and managed by Go Advertising Limited in Dublin, Ireland.

9th July 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Deldo Shows Wanli Run-Flat

Deldo caught attention recently with the premier of its brand new Wanli run-flat tyre. Deldo representatives told T&A during the Autopromotec that this will be the first Chinese run-flat tyre in the European market. Deldo is also the exclusive distributor of Wanli, Sunny and Fortuna tyres for the European market, and has been since 2002.

Deldo was present with a large booth of approximately 80 square metres. Company representative are reportedly “very happy with the atmosphere and quantity and quality of the visitors.” Besides the large number of Italian customers there were a lot of international people at the show. Deldo has been doing business in Italy for many years. At this moment, Deldo is active with four salesmen in the market and sales are growing step by step.

The company also showed the 26” in Wanli (305/30 R26) tyre. The launch of this product follows increased dialogue between Deldo and South China Tire and the well-known test centre, TUV Germany. According to the company, South China Tire is investing more and more in technology and new developments. Wanli is currently available in more than 200 sizes.

29th June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Punch International Acquires Wheel Manufacturer BBS

Belgium’s Punch International NV, the diversified industrial holding company headquartered in Sint-Martens-Latem, announced on June 29 that it has taken over BBS, the German developer and producer of lightweight wheels for premium segment sports and passenger cars. BBS is currently listed on the Frankfurt and Stuttgart stock exchanges but was declared bankrupt in May 2007, however the company is now expected to make a positive contribution to the Punch group’s net profit as soon as it the acquisition is finalised.

Punch will take over all the bankrupt company’s assets as of 1 August 2007, subject to the transaction’s approval by the antitrust authority. The acquired assets will include those of BBS Kraftfahrzeugtechnik AG and BBS Motorsport & Engineering GmbH, the brand name BBS and the activities of the company’s plants in Schiltach and Herbolzheim, Germany. The transaction also comprises the takeover of all the shares of the American sales subsidiary BBS of America, Inc and the redemption of all lease contracts in progress. BBS has an extensive portfolio of technology patents, which is also included in the takeover. Funds for the acquisition are drawn from a combination of the proceeds of the private placement dated 7 June 2007 and a bank loan. The activities taken over will continue under the name BBS International GmbH and become integrated in the Punch Motive division of the Punch group.

29th June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

It’s ‘Guinness Time’ at Conti

In the world of high-speed tyres Germany’s Continental has demonstrated it has nothing to be ashamed of following the entry of one of its products, the ContiSportContact Vmax, into the famed Guinness Book of Records as the world’s fastest standard production tyre. Certification experts from TÜV Süd Automotive in Munich recently served as independent technical witnesses to confirm the Conti tyre’s status, a pre-condition for entry in the revered book. First unveiled three years ago, the ContiSportContact Vmax is approved for use at speeds up to 360 km/h (225 mph), and carries a ‘ZR’ rating – the top designation on the speed rating scale, Y, does not accommodate speeds in excess of 300 km/h.

The tyre is based on the ContiSportContact product family and underwent further development to achieve substantially enhanced high-speed characteristics. Top priority in this context was efficient tyre cooling, whilst maintaining good handling and positive characteristics in the wet. “When developing this high-tech tyre, which is approved for road use, we were able to call on experience gained in the design of high-performance tyres for original equipment and for our technology partners in the customising sector” explained Holger Berkmann, tyre developer at Continental. “Adopting Formula One concepts would not help us here, as high-speed tyres approved for road use have to build up grip on wet and dry roads and they are also expected to achieve an appropriate mileage.”

29th June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Pirelli Commemorates 60 Years of Ferrari

Iconic supercar manufacturer Ferrari celebrated its 60th birthday in June 2007 and the tyremaker whose association with the company dates back to Enzo Ferrari’s racing days before the Second World War was on hand to pay tribute to the legendary marque. Pirelli took part in the celebrations held at Ferrari’s home town of Maranello, Italy, awarding a prize to the racing Ferrari judged the most beautiful out of those vehicles participating in the parade around the carmaker’s Fiorano circuit on June 24.

During the festivities Pirelli held a display outlining the close relationship between the two famous Italian brands. The tyremaker began supplying Scuderia Ferrari in the 1930s when Enzo Ferrari’s team was running Alfa Romeos, and when the company began producing its own vehicles after the war Pirelli was again the tyre of choice – on 166 MM Touring Barchetta of 1949 – and remained a Ferrari favourite for the following six decades. The original P Zero was famously designed with Ferrari’s F40 in mind, and today the latest generation of this UHP tyre is fitted as standard to the 599 GTB Fiorano, 612 Scaglietti and the F430.

28th June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Former Conti Boss Urban Dies

Former Continental CEO Horst W. Urban passed away on June 21, three weeks after celebrating his 71st birthday. Mr. Urban had been battling the affects of lung cancer, for which he underwent surgery last year.

Together with colleague Helmut Werner, Horst Urban developed proactive strategies to strengthen the tyremaker’s position, including the acquisition of rival brands Semperit and General Tire. During the early 1990s Urban vigorously resisted a takeover bid for Continental launched by Pirelli. Following the successful conclusion of this corporate struggle he tendered his resignation as company CEO in 1991, reportedly due to differences of opinion with supervisory board chairman Dr. Ulrich Weiß. At this time Dr. Weiß also held a position on the board of Deutsche Bank and was, amongst other roles, responsible for the bank’s business in Italy, and was thus considered to possess a more sympathetic view of the Pirelli takeover attempt than Mr. Urban.

26th June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Kubica Visits Bridgestone Poznan Tyre Plant

Employees at Bridgestone’s Poznan production plant in Poland enjoyed a day with BMW Sauber F1 driver Robert Kubica, who took time away from the track to pay them a visit. Poland’s star driver, who is currently nursing a leg injury after a horror crash at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, toured the factory and saw how tyres are made before choosing Poland’s winner of the Bridgestone “dreams at heArt” children’s drawing competition.

He turned a few heads on the way, chatting to staff on the production line and signing autographs for a lucky few of his enormous fan club in Poland. The Kubica visit was part of official celebrations for the completion of the final expansion phase at the Poznan plant, raising daily production capacity to 22,000 tyres. The increased output will help meet growing demand across Europe for Bridgestone’s high-performance passenger car tyres.

12th June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Omega 3000 Extruder

Marangoni Retreading Systems has presented the Omega 3000, the latest version of its extruder for high quality hot retreading. Over the last few years the hot retreaded tyre market has become increasingly focused on the quality of the end product. In the building of retreaded tyres with hot retreading technology, quality is obtained by using compounds that are increasingly similar to new tyres and by applying the materials with precision, in terms of both quantity and distribution.
That’s why medium-sized retreading firms (producing 60-80 tyres per day) require a machine able to extrude “difficult” compounds, which is rapid, dependable, accurate and can be used on a wide range of tyre sizes.
Marangoni Tread introduced a modern extruder, the Omega, designed for the hot retreading market in 2003. Since then, the Omega has been continually updated in order to meet the needs of retreading firms and has become well established on the main European markets: France, Spain, UK and Italy.

Marangoni Tread has now produced the Omega 3000, considerably improved in many ways with respect to the first version. Updates include:
– Precision: the previous circumference and tyre profile measuring device has been replaced with a laser technology instrument.
– Rapid and simple use: software improvements have made it possible to increase process automation and to make machine operation more user friendly;
– Extrudable tyre size range: the previous 15-24 inch range has been widened to the new 13-25 inch range;
– Throughput: even when extruding “difficult” compounds, there is no reduction in machine throughput.

1st June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Marangoni Launches Ringbuilder 3000

For Marangoni Retreading Systems, innovation Ringtread retreading technology is guided by the concept of a “production island”, i.e. a highly automated multi-purpose work centre with input of raw materials (compounds and tyre for retreading) and output of the end product (the retreaded tyre). The result of this philosophy is the new generation of “Ringbuilder” building machines, in version 3000 for large retreading firms and 2500 for medium-sized retreaders. Taking up from where the previous RB2500 left off, the RB 3000 further develops the concept of high-level automation and throughput.

31st May 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Nizhnekamskshina To Open New Rubber Mixing Facility

Nizhnekamskshina, Russia’s third largest tyre manufacturer, will in June complete the final stage of its production line for Kama Euro tyres, a range that draws on technical expertise from Italy’s Pirelli. The final facility in the project, a 25 million euro rubber mixing facility with a capacity of 21,000 tonnes of silica rubber compound, will open in June 2007.

16th May 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

European Commission Approves VB Autobatterie Acquisition

The European Commission has reported its approval of German company VB Autobatterie GmbH’s proposed acquisition of Italy’s FIAMM group’s automotive starter battery business, subject to the German company allaying competitor’s concerns about the impact such a deal may have.

These concerns are related to the FIAMM group’s business in Italy, Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, as the company holds a strong market position there. A question mark hangs over the impact the planned transaction will have in these markets. VB Autobatterie has offered to divest some of its manufacturing capacity and some key FIAMM brands relevant to the replacement part markets in these countries.

The Commission’s initial market investigation in December stated that the proposed acquisition would raise ‘serious competition concerns’, but its latest position is that, subject to a number of conditions, the takeover would not have any significant hindering effect upon competition within European markets.

11th May 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Price Fixing Charges Reveal Rubbery Figures

The European Commission has raided the premises of a number of rubber product manufacturers, including several also involved in tyre production, as part of a global investigation into price fixing practices. Amongst the companies investigated are Japan’s Bridgestone and Yokohama, along with Grimsby based rubber and plastic technology specialist Dunlop Oil & Marine, a division of Germany’s ContiTech AG and Trelleborg Industrie SAS, the French subsidiary of Sweden’s Trelleborg AB.

“I can confirm that yesterday and today Commission officials have undertaken unannounced inspections at premises of several marine hose producers in France, Italy and the United Kingdom,” Commission spokesman Jonathan Todd informed the media. “The Commission coordinated its investigative measures with the United States Department of Justice in the context of a suspected worldwide cartel concerning marine hoses.”

8th May 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Formula Ford Champion to Instruct at Marangoni Customer Days

Current British Formula Ford Champion, 23 year-old Nathan Freke from Kidderminster whose dominance in the series saw him netting 12 outright wins in 2006, is to join Marangoni as a corporate Instructor. The McLaren Autosport BRDC 2006 Young Driver finalist, one of the UK’s most promising young talents, will team up with Marangoni ‘Stig’, Cristiano del Balzo to provide high speed experience drives to major corporate customers at the Italian tyre manufacturer’s test track.

Said Derek Carruthers, Marangoni (Car Tyre Division) Sales & Marketing Director, “We are delighted to have secured the services of Nathan for a Marangoni Corporate Event in May. This hugely talented young driver will add a whole new dimension to the event and the opportunity to sit beside a driver who is already showing such potential is certain to be eagerly sought after by Marangoni Corporate guests.” While in Italy, Nathan will have the unique opportunity of gaining venue experience on the circuits where Cristiano both races and evaluates tyres for Marangoni, as part of the ongoing R&D programme.

27th April 2007/by Tyrepress Editors